Ten people were killed and 30 others injured after a vehicle plowed into a large crowd in New Orleans, the city’s emergency services said.
Nola Ready, the emergency preparedness service, said the incident happened around 3:15 a.m. local time (08:15 GMT) on Bourbon Street. According to testimony, which police have not confirmed, the driver then began firing a weapon.
A CBS reporter saw several injured people on the ground at the intersection of Bourbon and Canal streets.
A man who was in a bar during the incident told the BBC that after police let him go, he “walked past dead bodies and injured people all over the street.”
The BBC verified video from the scene which showed one person lying on the ground as others gathered, before what appeared to be gunshots were heard, causing the crowd to disperse.
Another graphic video shows two injured people lying in a street.
Witnesses told CBS that a vehicle drove into a crowd, then the driver began firing a gun, prompting police to return fire. The police have not confirmed this information.
Whit Davis, of Shreveport, Louisiana, told the BBC he had been on and around Bourbon Street since early evening. He was at a bar when the incident occurred and said he did not hear any shots or crashes due to the loud music.
“Then people started running and getting under tables like it was an active shooter drill. Then the police held us in the bar for a while and when we finally were allowed to leave, we passed dead bodies and injured people all over the street.” he said.
“Everyone was completely in shock,” he added. “I visit New Orleans frequently and have never seen anything this bad.”
Jim and Nicole Mowrer, who were visiting New Orleans from Iowa, told CBS they were in the French Quarter when they heard crashing sounds coming from down the street.
They said they saw a white truck go through a barricade “at high speed” and then heard gunshots after the crashing sounds.
“We stayed in the alcove until the gunfire stopped, we went out into the street and we passed a lot of people who had been hit. [we] I wanted to see what we could do to help,” Nicole said.
They tried to help the people they found injured, but realized the victims were dead. They said the truck hit people just a block from where they were walking.
The couple said the victims they saw were injured by the impact of the truck and that they saw no apparent gunshot wounds. They said they left the area once help began to arrive.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said in an article on X that he was “praying for all the victims and first responders on scene.”
“A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning,” Landry wrote.
